An Attempt to Journey from Fat to Fit in a Lifetime. Eat right, Eat less, Move more

Category Archives: Vegetarian

Back to the Walking

When I started the Journey back in 2011 the first bit of exercise I did was to walk the track at the local high school. Today I did just that. Unlike my first walk, where I struggled to walk one mile, today I walked three miles at a brisk 15-minute mile pace.

Felt good.

With the walking and some hiking, and time on the trainer with the bike, I plan to keep the fitness level up this winter as I continue to shed weight.

Lunch with a Friend from long ago…

Today I went to breakfast with my younger son. It is a Saturday morning tradition for us. The younger fellow and I go to a local landmark diner for breakfast, conversation, some laughs, mostly for time together.

Four hours later I was back at the same place with Missus. We had lunch with a friend of mine from high school. JKS and I were friendly in high school. Not close but always a warm welcome and a how are ya. We had choir together for three years and one summer during our college years we worked at the same plastics plant in the neighboring town. My nickname for her was Twiggy, after the 1960’s supermodel. It always elicited a roll of the eyes…

In any case, we had not seen each other since that long ago summer at the plastics plant and recently reconnected due to Facebook.

Today we met for lunch. Missus and Me and JKS and her husband SS.

I hope they had as good a time as Missus and I did. Good conversation, good food, good company.

I had a Greek Salad. Very tasty. Very in line with how I like to eat.

Eating out has always been a challenge. Servings are large and it is difficult to estimate how many calories are involved…. I think I did well by eating the salad. The veggie burger and fries was tempting…..

Writing even when I am not sure I have anything to say….

I am committed to writing every day when ever possible to do so. I will write even when I have nothing much to say because I need the discipline that comes with the writing. Bear with me.

As when I first started this blog, there will be days of triumph and days of disappointment and I will write when I am manic and when I am depressed… The point is to write, the chronicle, to keep the light on.

So, what has been going on?

Good question. The simple answer is I stopped writing and I started gaining weight.

The real answer is far more complex.

It starts really in June of 2014. June 1 to be precise and at about 8:15 AM.

I crashed my bike. I got careless and I crashed my bike. I went wide in a turn and clipped a curb and went over the handlebars.

I didn’t know at the time, and I wouldn’t know for nearly a year, that I had broken my clavicle. Actually I had shattered the tip. I rode through increasing levels of pain and finally had to stop.

It was in March of 2015 that an MRI showed the damage. I tried to keep riding but I wasn’t able to ride much. I canceled several planned rides, rode only on Saturday so my shoulder would be functional by Monday and I saw the length of the rides get shorter and shorter until I was having a good day if I could ride 25 miles.

While my activity level was dropping the quantity of food I was eating increased. I started snacking and the size of the meals got larger. More rice and pasta entered the diet…

My weight climbed and soon I found myself at 259 pounds.

Finally, in October of 2015 I had surgery to repair the damage and correct some structural issues. I was able to start riding again in March of this year and I started out slowly but by May was able to do the 40 miles of the Five-Boro Bike Tour and in June the 62 miles of the Ride for Autism. In September I rode a metric century in Maine.

This year I have about 1800 miles on the bike. More than last year by a thousand but less than I wanted.

The weight continued to be an issue. I kept promising myself that “tomorrow I will get back on the plan”. Tomorrow never comes. I didn’t gain but I didn’t lose and I would see my weight go up and down by five pounds but no real progress was being made.

So it was time to take stock and try to understand what has been going on.

Riding

I was able to ride again this year. I have some discomfort in my shoulder but not pain. I really feel it after 50-60 miles…. The 1800 miles or so that I did this year was far less than my goal of 3000 but I am not unhappy. I rode and I rode without pain and that is what I wanted. After two years of pain in the shoulder whenever I rode it was nice to have only a little stiffness at the end of a long ride.

Riding is far more than the exercise, the calorie burn. Riding, for me anyway, is freedom from the everyday. It is my time alone, my time with friends, my time of challenge and my time of accomplishment. Even in failure there is accomplishment on the bike. Maybe I didn’t ride the 75 miles I wanted on a particular ride but I still rode the 62. This is more than I rode sitting on the couch or in front of the computer.

Riding is both a solitary pursuit and a social activity. It depends on the circumstance. Most of my rides are solo. This is my time to let the brain relax and focus on just the task at hand: ride. I also got back to leading entry level/beginner rides this year. That is my time to teach and encourage and meet and socialize.

Riding is my anti-depressant. I need higher and more frequent doses.

Thoughts and processes.

I have never claimed to have found a magic formula to weight loss and weight maintenance. I have always said it is work and a constant effort. I also never said I would not fail or never again fight the weight.

It has always been a struggle and I am relearning that it always will be.

So what happened?

I have always struggled with The Black Dog, my term for depression. Not riding, the pain in the shoulder, issues in my life with friends and family all served to exacerbate this and my succor was food. Just as weight does not come off overnight it does not come back overnight. First it was 220 pounds and my mumbled commitment to get that off. Then it was 230, 240, and finally 259. The depression would come and go and I would be fine and the weight would stabilize for a little and then again it would climb. I found myself eating more than the occasional doughnut, a slice of pizza, the extra serving.

I went hiking less frequently. I sat and played on the computer when I could have been walking. I passed on bike rides when the shoulder was a little stiff. I found excuses to not do what had worked so well for so long.

I know I have beaten the odds so far. Statistics will tell you that 95% of people who lose more than a third of their body weight will gain back 80% within three years. I lost 110 pounds and I gained back 50 three years after I started. Ok. Not good, OK.

Giving in to sloth. Giving in to lazy. Giving in.

The one steady was I am still not eating red meats or poultry. Only occasional fish. Trust me when I tell you that you can get plenty fat on a vegetarian diet….

So I have had to reassess. I have had to look at relationships and put some behind me. It has been hard, and continues to be hard, to walk away from some of these friendships but I had to. I have had to relook at my approach to food and exercise. I have had to find the motivation to get back to the Plan and back to “eat Right, Eat Less, Move More”.

I am making progress.

Six pounds down.

253

Goal is 210. As it was.

I also have come to recognize how important this blog was for me in staying on The Plan. With that in mind I am going to get back to writing this blog. I am also going to try to write more prose and I hope you won’t mind if I post some of them in the blog.

So I am back. I am back on The Plan. Eat Right, Eat Less, Move More. The details of the plan will change. The goal will not.

The Journey

Long time. How are ya?
This winter….

Despite the impression some may have, I am not done with my Journey. I took a break from writing because I wasn’t sure I had much to say. After this difficult winter, the pressures of my job (I got a promotion!) and the depression I have been dealing with over some physical issues, it just wasn’t in me to write. I am still working on a healthy life, eating right, moving more. I did gain weight this winter, a little over 20 pounds, but nothing like the weight I have lost and nothing that sets me too far back of my plans and goals or discourages me. I knew from the start that I would have successes, failures, victories and setbacks. Admittedly, this winter was not a victory and it was not a success. It is not how many times you fall that determines success. It is how many times you get back up. I keep getting back up. I am back up now.

The Journey, as I have said from the first, is a life-long thing. There is no final stop but there are many stops along the way. I know what I want from the Journey. I know what I want from me. I want to be fit. I want to be reasonably lean, 200-210 pounds. I want to eat right and still enjoy what I eat but in smaller portions and without snacking and indulgence.

I want to encourage other and to be encouraged by other. I want to recognize in myself the issues that have driven the obesity. Why I overeat if I let my guard down. I want to be optimistic but cautious and practical in my approach. I want to ride my bike, go on hikes, be comfortable in my skin and happy with the course my life is taking.

I see in some people a disturbing tendency to revel in the failures, misfortunes, missteps and pain of others. I feel sad for those people. Sad and twisted little beasts who cannot enjoy the success of others because their own life is hollow and riddled with failures they cannot see as their own.

When I learned that I am responsible for all that I am I was able to start this Journey and make of it what it is. It is a ride. I have had up days and down. I have lost weight, gained a little back, lost it again, gained a little back….. I blame no one because this is not an issue for blame. It is a part of life, my life, my Journey.

Anyway, Hi, I am back and I hope you will stop by and read a little….

My Right Shoulder

A couple of years ago while doing longer rides I started to experience pain in my right shoulder and between my shoulder blades. In 2013, while riding the NYC Century, the pain became so sharp that I nearly abandoned the ride at the 35-mile mark. I continued on despite it all and I was able to ride 75 miles. It was a week before the shoulder stopped hurting. It has been a constant issue since then and it has really caused issues with my riding. Anything over 35-40 miles and the pain in the shoulder and between the shoulder blades became hell. The pain in the shoulder became a constant companion. Something like a dull toothache with occasional flares of eye-crossing pain. Since I crashed last summer there has not been a day without some pain in the shoulder. Since last fall it has been a steady presence.

I finally went to the Doctor about it last week.

The news was not good but it could have been worse.

Torn Labrum

Bursitis

Arthritis (this getting old stuff…)

A cortisone shot has helped with the bursitis. We are taking a wait and see with the rest of it.

The upshot is that I was able to ride yesterday for the first time in a long time. I did a short ride, fifteen miles, and I didn’t push it but I rode and I didn’t have pain in the shoulder.

This is a victory.

I am out of shape, carrying 20 pounds more than I want to, but I rode and it didn’t hurt.

It’s a start.

Winter

Maybe winter is finally leaving? We had snow just a few days ago. Not much, an inch on the lawns, sidewalks and cars…

But still snow.

My mother used to have the “winter blues”. Today they call it Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD). I too do not deal with the long winters as well as some. I wouldn’t go so far as to say I have SAD but I don’t like the winters the way I once did. I didn’t do any cross-country skiing this winter; I didn’t ride my bike at all. I went outside only so much as necessary. And this has been the winter that refuses to end.

Yesterday made it to the low 60s and I rode my bike for the first time since last November. It is a grey day today but warm enough to ride and I will get in another hour ride today. Tomorrow I will hike with my friend PGB. Starting to get outside again. Starting to get fresh air in my lungs.

It is finally feeling like spring. Finally feeling like there will be warm sun on me.

Though my ride yesterday was short it was a great feeling. The wind over me, the legs pumping, the heart beating harder the lungs pulling in the air… I love the feel of sweeping through a turn, bike leaning, tires digging in to the road. I got that feeling yesterday and though I only averaged around fourteen and half miles per hour I did have short stretches of good speed. And it felt wonderful. It was the type of first ride of the year that makes you want to get back out the next day.

So, yeah, winter seems to be leaving and spring, though a little later to the party, seems to be bringing with it the excitement I usually feel when spring and cycling season arrive…

Not a Fan

When I was a teen and then in to my early twenties I enjoyed the cold. It rarely bothered me. I would shovel the snow in a T-shirt. I walked two miles after a blizzard to see my girlfriend when I was sixteen. Winter was not a problem for me.

It is now.

I hate the cold. Truly hate it. I rarely ride in the winter. I barely get out to hike. I dream of a job transfer to the dessert southwest….

I haven’t cross-country skied this winter. Not nearly enough snow most of the time and a little leery of it since my concussion last winter.

So I sit and wait for spring.

Winter? Not a fan.

Plans for Spring

I have the usual bike ride planned this year. I am doing the 5-Boro Bike tour again. I went off the deep edge and paid for the VIP package so I can be sure to start near the front of the 32,000 riders. Nuts? Yes.

I am doing the Ride for Autism as I do every year. It is the one ride it would hurt me to miss. Eighteen people have signed up to ride as a member of the team. I hope we get more before the ride in June.

I hope to lead the beginner/intermediate bike rides again for the shop. If I don’t lead I will still partake.

I didn’t come anywhere close to my mileage goal last year. I hope to get the miles in this year. If all goes well I may be able to limit working at the shop to Sundays. That would certainly make Saturday an easier day to get in the miles… Maybe get some club rides in. I haven’t ridden with the club in three years. I pay dues… I really should get out on a club ride or two.

Spring is only 6 weeks away, not matter what the forecasting rodent says….

Cooking

Udon and VEgetable Soup. Perfect for this cold winter night

This time of year there is a positive for me: I cook. I make soups. Pot upon pot of soup. Today I made my “everything in the pot” veggie soup. Whatever is in the fridge and the freezer and is considered a vegetable gets tossed in and I cook it until it is soup. Today it was mushroom, onion, kale, corn, broccoli, sugar snap peas, tomato and tofu. Cover with water, season, cook…

I served it with Udon noodles… It made for a wonderful dinner.

Tomorrow I will roast some squash and make roasted squash soup… Fill up the freezer, it is a long winter.

I also plan to bake some breads. I am picking up a computer from a friend and I am going to bring him some breads to thank him for his help. Good man. Deserves some fresh-baked breads.

I love to cook. I just wish I could get out of the house… I need to hike… I need to bike… Cooking will have to do. And the treadmill….

My Weight

I am doing OK. Not great. OK. I have put on a little weight, 10 pounds, this winter. It is slowly coming down. Lost 5 last week. Want to lose 20 more by the end of March and then 20 more by June.

I sometimes stop fighting the fight. I admit it is hard to always say no to pizza and cookies and donuts. I do. I still do. But the fight is hard.

I have been fighting The Black Dog again. It has had the upper hand recently but I can feel that I am pulling out of it. Missus is so tolerant when I am in the cave. She waits, knowing I will pull out of it somehow.

I have some very big decisions to make and I am struggling with the choices. It isn’t always easy to know what to do with one’s life. I am still trying to decide what to be when I grow up and here I am in my mid 50’s….

So eat right, eat less, move more….

It is always a struggle. I will not be fat again.

A Little of my prose:

Sitting on the hill, waiting to take photographs in old style with film, sitting on the ledge looking out to the valley with a camera ready in hand. Looking for that moment when the light would be just right, the perfection realized, sitting still up on the hill waiting for the sun to set.

Sitting in the special quiet and looking out to the distance where a bird is gliding. Sitting waiting for that perfect moment in old style with film, when the moment would be just right, nearly perfect, sky and earth one.

Sitting, now watching as the sun begins to set, sitting on that ledge, sitting as the slight chill sends a shudder along the arms. Sitting on that ledge as the sky begins to glow a softer light, nearly perfect, nearly right. Sitting on that hill with the old camera in hand, film is wound and shutter cocked and the light is nearly there.

Sitting on the hill with the camera at the ready, sitting watching for that moment coming soon, with the sky now orange and the clouds now fringed with light, sitting on the ledge, feet near the edge, watching for that perfect moment, that perfect light. The sun now setting in amber, the sky now perfect, the moment is now and then nothing.

Sitting on the hill, the moment passes, camera hanging from the hand, the sky was perfect, too perfect to photograph in old style on film. The moment committed to memory where it will stay in perfect light. Now standing, now walking away from the ledge.

I Awoke one morning

Though taken in July, 2011, this is pretty much how I looked in December 2011.

Tuesday, December 27, 2011.

I awoke that morning and I got out of bed. Well, almost. What I did was roll on to my left side and got my left arm under me. I then swung my right leg up in the air and then down in an arc while pushing up with my left arm. In this manner I propelled myself in to a sitting position.

Once there, I took my two blood pressure medications and prepared to push my body in to a standing position so I could start my day.

As I sat there, still clearing the morning cobwebs from my mind, reminding myself that I didn’t have work, that I was still on vacation, I came to a remarkable realization.

I was tired of being fat.

I realized I was ready to do something about it.

I was ready to change my life.

To this day I cannot tell you what clicked.

I only know that something did.

It was three years ago today. One-thousand and ninety-five days ago.

I awoke that morning.

Finally

Where would I be?

I have no clue the course my life would have taken had I not altered my trajectory. I wasn’t a little overweight. I was morbidly obese. I was FAT. I was more than 100 pound overweight. I was barreling towards an early demise. Worse? I didn’t seem to care. I wasn’t doing anything at all to exercise. I was eating a horribly unhealthy diet. I was drinking Diet Coke by the case full. 10-12 cans a day was not unusual for me. Five-thousand calories a day was not unusual for me.

I went for a walk. I remember it as a cold and gray day. Not sure if I remember that correctly but that is how I see it in my mind’s eye. I drove to the High School track and walked one mile and I sat down and I panted for ten minutes afterwards. And then I drove home.

Had I not done that…. What would have happened?

I took the first steps.

I haven’t stopped.

I lost weight fast. I changed my diet. I eventually gave up red meat and poultry. I increased my activity level as I decreased my intake. I lost the weight. I have kept it off for the most part.

Had I not started this Journey….

I would not have made many of the friendship I now have. I would not have developed others that have grown stronger. I would not be in the cycling world. I would not have the life I have now. I might not have a life. I might not be alive..

Where would I be? I would be fifty-three and fat, assuming I did not succumb to high blood pressure and heart disease. I am not trying to be dramatic here. This is fact. My odds were very bad. My health was deteriorating. It was getting ugly.

Here I am.

It has never gotten easy

I figured on this early on my Journey.

I figured it would never get easy. It might get easier. Never easy. I was right.

The temptations are still there. They still tempt me. I made the mistake of thinking I could indulge. I was wrong. The weight came back fast. I blew up to 235 pounds FAST. I fixed it. I refocused. The weight is coming down. The holiday season has been harder this year. Not sure why but it has been. It has not gotten easy. It hasn’t really gotten any easier.

The traps are still there. Portion size increased as it had to once I went in to maintenance mode. The portion size increased too much and the weight started to climb. Scaled that back. Fought to control it. Getting better at it. Weight is stabilized and starting to come down again.

It has never become easy. I expect it never will.

Beating the odds

I am beating the odds.

The odds said that I would gain back fifty percent or more of what I had lost within one year of reaching my goal weight and within two years I would have gained it all back. The statistics are depressing.

I am beating the odds. More than 2 years after hitting my target weight I am still within 20 pounds of it and I am back on the downward trend.

I slipped. I gained some back. I overate. That was much more the issue than my activity level, though that two has slipped some. Plenty of reasons but no excuses.

I will not give up or give in.

I am not going to fail.

I will not be fat again.

Where I am now

This is who I am and who I will stay

Saturday, December 27, 2014

One-Thousand Ninety-Six Days later where am I now? I am fit. I am off the BP meds. My at rest heart rate is 64 Beats Per minute. I can cycle 75+ miles. I can hike and climb.

I am a “near” vegetarian. I don’t eat red meats or poultry. I still eat fish a couple of times a week but for the most part I follow a vegetarian diet.

I spend a great deal of time with my wife and my boys. I have the energy now. The Younger one likes to walk with me. He counts my bleacher sets when we go to the school track. The Older one likes to watch TV with me. We also go for walks sometimes.

Missus and I walk together and have date-night a couple of times a month.

I work 11-12-hour days at my regular job and I work Saturdays most weekends at the bike shop. I cut back on the Sundays. I needed the rest… Come Spring I will get back to leading the Sunday Rides (I Hope).

Mostly where I am is in a good place in my mind.

Loving life

I am happy where I am right now. Not happy that I gained weight back. Mad as hell at myself about that. Happy that I cared and stopped it. Glad that I go it at 25 pounds and not at 75.

I am loving riding, hiking, walking.

I am loving having the energy to keep up with my boys.

I am loving the sense that I have control over this.

I am happy with the person I am now and pleased that the growth continues and I am still moving forward on the Journey.

I am back at it. Three days. Back to the plan, focused back on the goal. Eating Right, Eating Less, Moving More. I have pulled my calorie intake back to weight loss mode (sub-2000 calories) and I am making the point to do laps of the plant floor a few times a day. Started Monday Morning. 3.6 pounds back off as of this morning.

I am not sure why I drifted. Tired? Stressed? Both? Don’t know, and this is what concerns me. For more than two years I was able to stick to it and then I drifted off and put 20 pounds back on much faster than I took it off. Scary and frustrating.

Back at it.

Eat Right. Eat Less. Move More.

I know how to do this and so I am doing it. I am making it happen again because getting fat again is not something I can allow or will allow to happen. I didn’t like begin fat. I was miserable, depressed, sad….

Since I lost the weight I have felt better physically, mentally, emotionally…… All ways imaginable. Riding the bikes, climbing the hills. Hiking the trails and paths are all things I could do fat and I am not going to give them up.

I had gotten up to 230.2 pounds. This morning I was 226.6. Tomorrow? Well, who knows. All I do know is I am back at it. Eat Right. Eat Less. Move More.

HI

I haven’t posted much recently. I have been working 10-12 hour days and I have been very tired but I am fine. Thanks for asking.

The weight is good. A little elevated but I am on top of it and the cycling is going very well. IT has just been hard to find the time to do much of anything other than work and get in a couple of rides on the weekend.

Today’s shop ride was called off due to the threat of rain and the wet roads from the overnight rain. So of course the weather cleared as soon as we called off the ride. The radar showed more rain coming…

Disappointed.

I did get in a good 32 mile ride yesterday so it is not a total loss.

Coming up to the Anniversary

On August 8, 2012 I made it to my goal weight of 210 pounds. The anniversary is coming up and though I am a few pounds above that weight right now I am still very pleased with where I am weight and health-wise and I will observe the date with a couple of slices of Reservoir Tavern pizza.

I am beating the odds. The averages say that I should have gained back at least 50% of the weight I lost by now. Some studies suggest that 80% of people who lose more than 1/3 of their body weight will regain 100% of that loss within two years. Those odds are terrible.

I have gained back 10 pounds. Not happy about that but I am not distressed over it either. I am working to bring it back down slowly and I will get there. The important thing is I am not eating the wrong foods nor am I snacking. My meals got a little too big. I recognize that and I have corrected it. The activity level is high. I just adjusted wrong…

So how have I managed so far to “beat the odds”? See above. I track it. I watch it. I adjust. I plan. I ride and I walk. I work at it. I look at before pictures. I look in the mirror and I tell myself NO. It will never stop being a THING for me. I will not relax, indulge, splurge or walk away from all that I worked so hard to accomplish.

The anniversary is coming up. This is a very important date for me. It marks the day when it all came true. The dream of no longer being a fat man. If I ever get a tattoo I think it will be a bicycle wheel with the date 8/8/2012 under it and the motto “Eat Right-Eat Less-Move More” above it.

So PGB, you up for some pizza in a couple of weeks?

Vegetarian

Not there yet. Not sure how to give up fish. I love lox and I love sushi and I just haven’t been able to bring myself to give them up entirely. I rarely eat poultry and I never eat red meat (defined as any meat from a mammal) but so far giving up fish has been harder than I am willing to deal with right now.

The interesting thing I find is that people assume that it has something to do with animal rights and cruelty and so forth. While I deplore cruelty towards animals (including the human animal) I have no real issue with animals as food for humans and I am by no means an animal rights activist.

For me it is purely a health issue. The research is overwhelming that people whose diets are high in red meats have a significantly higher rate of cardiovascular disease and live shorter lives. That was the drive behind giving up the red meat. Giving up poultry was a simple and easy next step towards a healthier diet. Next would be fish but I just can’t get there. Yet.

Thoughts

When I started this Journey fear was a big part of my life. I was afraid of dying. I was afraid of failing. I was afraid of the Journey itself and what I would learn about myself.

I am not afraid so much anymore. I am comfortable with who I am and what I have learned. I am healthy now. No more BP meds, no more “pre-diabetic condition”, health at rest heart rate, healthy weight. Blood numbers are all good.

I am much more comfortable with being me. I am not as easily angered as I was. I am pleased with me.

And this is what I tell people who ask me about losing weight: Eat Right-Eat Less-Move More and get to know who you are. If I had not explored me, primarily though the exercise of writing this blog, I would never have gotten here. I would not be just a couple of weeks away from two years reaching my goal weight still lean and healthy. I Would have been another who didn’t maintain it. I would have been another who gained it back. The battle is not won. It will never be won. I am still the person who weighed 320 pounds. The ghosts are still lurking. I know them now. I understand them better. I can keep the demons at bay now. I can because I confronted them.

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A Fat Man’s Journey

Then and Now

The changes fitness and good diet make....

WELCOME

Thank you for stopping by. I plan to write somewhat regularly about my efforts to take off the excess me and get back to a good, healthy weight and build my fitness up to a reasonable level.
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